Licensed under the Gambling Act 2003
The Indigo Pier Casino
Six tables, forty machines and a bar that closes when the last hand is dealt — on the ground floor of the hotel, two minutes from the lake, in the middle of Queenstown.
Reserve a table, or ask us anything
No forms and no booking engine. Our floor host answers the phone from midday until close, every day of the year.
The room
A small casino, deliberately
Queenstown has never needed another cavernous gaming hall, so we did not build one. The Indigo Pier casino seats about ninety people across six live tables and a quiet bank of gaming machines, in a room with actual daylight, actual windows and a ceiling you can see.
The floor sits directly beneath the residences. Guests come down in whatever they are wearing; everybody else walks in off Beetham Street. Entry costs nothing, there is no membership to buy, and there is no minimum spend on any table.
Our dealers are trained in-house and most of them have been here for years. If you have never played before, say so — someone will teach you at an empty table before the room fills up, at no charge and with no expectation that you then sit down and play.
On the floor
What we deal
Six tables and forty machines. Everything below runs under game rules approved by the Secretary for Internal Affairs, and the full rules for every game are held at the cash desk for anyone who asks to read them.
Blackjack
Three tables, six decks, dealer stands on soft seventeen. Doubling after a split is permitted; surrender is not.
Roulette
Two single-zero wheels. Announced bets are accepted, and the dealer will call no more bets rather than let the ball decide it.
Baccarat
Punto banco, eight decks, commission on the banker as usual. The most popular table in the room after nine at night.
Three-card poker
Ante and play, with a pair-plus side bet. The quickest way into the room if you would rather not learn a new game tonight.
Texas Hold’em
One cash table nightly and a freezeout tournament on Thursdays. Rake is capped and posted on the wall beside the table.
Gaming machines
Forty machines, one cent to two dollars a line. Return-to-player figures are displayed on every machine, as the rules require.
Hours
When we are open
| Area | Hours |
|---|---|
| Gaming machines | Midday – 3am, seven days |
| Blackjack & roulette | Midday – 3am, seven days |
| Baccarat, poker & three-card | 6pm – 3am, seven days |
| Cash desk | Midday – 3am, seven days |
| The bar | Midday – 2.30am, seven days |
| Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday | Closed, as the law requires |
The house
House rules, briefly
- Twenty and over. Photo identification is checked at the door for everyone who looks under twenty-five, every night, without exception. A New Zealand driver licence, a Kiwi Access card or a passport are the only documents we accept.
- Smart casual dress. No high-visibility workwear, no gang insignia or patches, no helmets, no bare feet. We are not strict about much else.
- No phones or cameras at the tables. Take the call in the foyer; nobody minds.
- Cash and eftpos only on the floor. There is no credit, no lending between the house and a player, and no automatic teller machine in the gaming area — all three are prohibited.
- We can refuse entry. Anyone visibly intoxicated, anyone subject to an exclusion order, and anyone who will not produce identification will be turned away at the door.
Our obligations
Gambling at Indigo Pier, and the law that governs it
The Indigo Pier casino operates under the Gambling Act 2003. That Act is the reason this page exists in the form it does, and it sets the terms on which we are allowed to open the doors at all.
Under the Act, a casino may only operate under a casino venue licence and a casino operator’s licence. Both are granted by the Gambling Commission and administered by the Department of Internal Affairs (Te Tari Taiwhenua), which inspects the floor, approves the rules of every game we deal, audits our surveillance, and can suspend or cancel a licence. The Act permits no new casino venue licences in New Zealand; we operate an existing licence, and we keep it by meeting its conditions.
What the Act requires of us
- A minimum age of twenty. It is an offence for a person under twenty to enter the gaming area, and an offence for us to let them. This is why we check identification even when it is inconvenient.
- A host responsibility programme. We must have one, it must be approved, and our staff must be trained in it. In practice it means our people are taught to recognise the signs of harm and to act on them — by offering a break, by offering information, and by offering exclusion.
- Exclusion on request. Anyone may ask to be excluded from the casino, for a period of their choosing up to two years, and we must act on that request. It takes a few minutes at the cash desk, no explanation is required, and it takes effect immediately. We can also issue an exclusion order ourselves where we believe someone is being harmed by their gambling.
- Information, on display. Problem gambling information, the odds of winning, and the availability of help must be visible in the gaming area. They are, on every wall and beside every bank of machines.
- No credit, no inducements. We may not lend you money to gamble, may not accept a cheque or a credit card at the table, may not keep a cash machine in the gaming area, and may not offer free alcohol as an inducement to play.
- Advertising limits. Nothing we publish, this page included, may target anyone under twenty, promise wealth, or suggest that gambling is a way to solve a financial problem. It is not.
- Problem gambling levy. A portion of what the casino takes is paid to the Crown under the Act to fund public services that treat gambling harm.
If gambling has stopped being fun
Most people who walk through our doors have a good night and go upstairs to bed. Some do not. If your gambling is costing you more than money — sleep, work, honesty with the people you live with — that is worth taking seriously now rather than later.
Help in New Zealand is free, confidential, and available to family members as well as to players. You do not need a referral and you do not need to give your name.
Gambling can be harmful. The odds are always against the player, no system beats them, and the only reliable way to stay ahead is to decide what an evening is worth before you start and to stop at that number. Never gamble with money you need, and never gamble to win back what you have lost.
Finding us
1 Beetham Street, Queenstown
The casino entrance is on the Beetham Street side of the hotel, under the awning. Hotel guests can take the stairs down from the lobby instead and never step outside.
The town centre is a six-minute walk, the gondola base ten. There is no dedicated casino car park and we would rather you did not need one — taxis wait on the corner until close, and every driver in Queenstown knows the address.
